Best Designers profile : David Kleinberg

David Kleinberg is one of the most respected names in interior design. Over a thirty-year career with projects reaching around the world, Kleinberg has created a body of work that is wide-ranging in style yet always modern in sensibility. Whether boldly inspired or carefully nuanced, Kleinberg’s interiors are above all clean-lined, sophisticated and highly attuned to each client’s lifestyle.

A consummate decorator in the old-school mold, David Kleinberg is a master of color, texture, scale, and detail. He’s also a true believer in Billy Baldwin’s dictum that “suitability always overrules fashion.” After training his eye at the esteemed firms Denning & Fourcade and Parish-Hadley, Kleinberg launched his own Manhattan practice in 1997.

The singular rooms he creates for projects around the world adhere to the traditional virtues of elegance, beauty, practicality, comfort, and, above all, relevance to the personalities of the owners. Kleinberg has applied his refined sensibility to a broad range of spaces, from a storied Beverly Hills estate to a superyacht being built in Europe, all unified by a sophistication and spirit attuned to the tenor of contemporary life.

See also: Glenn Glisser’s Best ProjectsAfter graduating from Trinity College in 1976, Kleinberg explored the New York design world while working first at Denning & Fourcade and then at Mara Palmer. His talents were further honed during his sixteen-year tenure at the venerable Parish-Hadley Associates, beginning in 1981. Kleinberg left Parish-Hadley in 1997 to start his own firm DAVID KLEINBERG DESIGN ASSOCIATES. International in scope, the full-service interior design firm has grown exponentially and employs 25. Kleinberg’s clients appreciate the all-encompassing abilities of his organized, efficient firm. On large-scale interior renovation projects, it’s not uncommon for Kleinberg to direct a group of leading lighting specialists, craftsmen, and art advisors to work with his in-house team on the design and interior renovation process. “Our biggest compliment is the repeat business from our clients. We regularly complete several projects for each and in every case the clients are looking for something different. When looking back, I strive to evolve and change direction, not to repeat.”